Compass October 2023 - Water and Futures

This issue examines the complex global relationship with water and its critical role in future sustainability. Matthew Klein applies foresight to the future of water utilities exploring transformations from analog to digital systems. Samista Jugwanth Stefan Pike and Aldré Nel provide a four-step guide for modeling a city’s future water demand. Catherine Cosgrove discusses global water resource management and the importance of moving outside the traditional waterbox. Stephen Aguilar-Millan explores the geopolitical possibilities created by a thawing Arctic Circle ice cap. Jill Storey argues that managing CO2 in our oceans is the greatest challenge of our time highlighting ocean-based carbon removal. Tamarah Usher and Kiran Carpenter use design fiction to narrate humanity's evolving dance with water as a scarce treasure. Kody George investigates the future of water in outer space and the common heritage of mankind doctrine. Dmitriy Zakharov analyzes the climate-related concept of managed retreat from high-hazard coastal areas. Stephen Dupont explores nature-based solutions like blue-green infrastructure and the impact of shrinking snowpack. Mathias Behn Bjørnhof discusses the controversial quest for a green transition through deep-sea mining. The issue also features JT Mudge and Stephanie Joly on building sustainable ocean fisheries through a STEEP lens.